Anthem Drops To A Humilating $5 For Black Friday

Poor Anthem. BioWare's shared-world action game has suffered through a tough year, and now it's getting even more disrespect in the form of a Black Friday deal. Anthem released on Feb. 22, 2019 at a retail price of $59.99. When GameStop's Black Friday sale rolls around next week, it'll be on sale for a mere $5.

From its troubled launch all the way through today, Anthem has been the butt of nonstop jokes from outsiders, and the target of constant ridicule from players. And for good reason: Anthem has mostly failed to be the "Destiny-killer" so many thought it would be. There wasn't a meaningful endgame in the title to start. Numerous content drops missed their deadlines. Even those who wanted to — get this — purchase cosmetics in the game found that vendors didn't have much to offer.

But $5? Anthem selling at that price can't feel good for anybody. It likely doesn't inspire the folks at BioWare, who've watched several key leaders on the project depart over the last few months. And it certainly has to bother anyone who paid full price for the title. That $55 could have been put to better use.

It sure looks like GameStop wants to clear out its Anthem inventory, and that has us asking serious questions about the future of the game. It's rumored that Anthem is getting a complete overhaul, and it's possible that extensive work could result in a re-release. If those rumors don't hold true, though, it'll be tough to imagine Anthem continuing on in this way. Maybe Anthem is preparing for a comeback. Or maybe BioWare's latest is already dead and we just don't know it.

We'll be keeping a close eye on Anthem in the weeks ahead to try to get a sense of what's going on. In the meantime, if you were ever curious about Anthem, you can pick it up for just $5 when GameStop's Black Friday sale kicks off — rather confusingly — next Wednesday.